Dispensing container and rotatable closure therefor



June 14, 1966 c, JARRETT 3,255,937

DISPENSING CONTAINER AND ROTATABLE CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed Oct. 15, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 X 24 27 27 27 F I 4 25 a mmmn l lgw lll'lll /%////////IlI".\\\ O F IG. 5 INVENTOR.

CARL L.JARRETT ATTORNEY June 14, 1966 c. L- JARRETT DISPENSING CONTAINER AND ROTATABLE CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed Oct. 15, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Illllll FIG? INVENTOR. CARL L. JARRETT -l /zw fo e ATTORNEY June 14, 1966 c. L. JARRETT DISPENSING CONTAINER AND ROTATABLE CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed Oct. 15, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

CARL JARRETT wank/K FIG.

ATTORNEY United States Patent The present invention is directed to a dispensing container fabricated from plastic and the method of making the container.

It is desirable to have a two piece plastic container which dispenses material therefrom through a top opening sealable by a slosure member joined to the container body sothat removal of the closure member is difiicult. The closure member preferably is rotatable to and from open to closed positions.

It has been the practice in the past to blow mold the body portion ott the container and provide a two or three piece closure member. Frequently the neck of the container body portion receives an insertable plug and an I over-cap is mounted on the container neck and plug. The

overcap is rotatable to align holes in the cap and plug for dispensing a commodity from the container. Containers of this character are expensive since it is necessary to separately mold and assemble the various parts on the plug and overcap to the container after filling the container. Furthermore, the quantity of plastic necessary to form this type container is substantial, thus increasing the cost of the finished container. The present invention is directed to a two piece container wherein the container body is termed in a unique shape and is adapted to receive a single piece closure, which is rotatably mounted on the container for movement irom and to dispensing and closed positions.

The method of fabricating the container according to the present invention is unique in that it includes the utilization of a portion of the plastic material which is noranally a waste portion on the container body. This waste portion is utilized for supplying the opening in the top of the container by a simple trimming operation. The container neck portion and opening may also be formed Without the waste portion by injection molding the top of the container body and extruding an integral parison which is subsequently blown to the desired shape.

The apparatus used for fabricating a container according to the present invention includes several well-known types used in the blow molding industry. These apparatuses extrude a parison (horizontally or vertically primarily), enclose the parison in mold shells having an internal cavity of the desired configuration, and introduce pressurized air (other gas or fluid) into the parison to expand the parison again-st the cavity. The head portion, including the neck, of the container may be injection molded prior to extruding the parison thereby minimizing the secondary trimming, coring, etc., operations necessary on the blown parison.

In the drawings I have shown the bodiment of my invention in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a blown container body after it is removed from the mold shells at a blow molding station;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view of the container body of FIGURE 1;

present preferred emice FIGURE 3 is a perspective of the container body of the prior figures, with the waste portion removed;

FIGURE 3A is a cross section taken on 'line 3A-3A of FiGUR'E 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary side elevation view of the container body, specifically the upper end thereof, with the waste portion removed and the opening cored out;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical cross section of the container upper end, taken on the axis of the container body, with the waste portion removed, showing the maximum extent of the top opening in the container body;

FIGURE 6 is a cross section taken on line 6-6 of FIGURE 9, showing a closure member positioned on the upper end of the container body;

FIGURE 7 is a side elevation view of the closure member positioned on the upper end of the container;

FIGURE 8 is a plan view of the container showing the closure in non-dispensing or closed position;

FIGURE 9 is similar to FIGURE 8 but showing the closure in dispensing or opened position;

FIGURE 10 shows a modified dorm of the invention wherein the upper end of the container body is provided with a lkeyhole shaped opening;

FIGURE 11 is a cross section taken on line 11--11 of FIG. 10;

FIGURE '12 is a view similar to FIGURE 11 with the waste portion removed from the container body;

FIGURE 13 is a top plan view of the modified form of the container and closure with the closure .in a first opened or dispensing position;

FIGURE 14 is a View similar to FIGURE 13 with the closure in a second open or dispensing position;

FIGURE 15 is -a cross section taken on line 15-45 of FIGURE 13; and,

FIGURE 16 shows various other modified forms of my invention and specifically shows a top plan view of the container body having triangular, circular, square and diagonal openings therein.

Briefly, the present invention is directed to a plastic container formed from polyethylene, polypropylene, vinyl, etc., and adapted to dispense .a commodity contained therein. The container includes a chamber formed by side and bottom walls Olf any desired configuration, a neck-like structure on the upper end of the side wall, a peripheral flange integral with the neck-like structure extending inwardly toward the chamber and the longitudinal axis of the container.

The inner edges of the flange form a dispensing and filling passage for the chainber. The inner edges of the peripheral flange have a variety of configurations but must provide .a flange having areas which extend radially inwardly a greater distance than other areas of the flange. Thus, the flange has areas that extend radially at varying distances. A closure is provided for the top of the container and has at least one dispensing opening. The closure is rotatably mounted on the container and the opening in the closure is positionable over either an open portion of the dispensing passage or over a portion of the peripheral flange. When the opening in the closure is over the peripheral flange, the container is in a closed or non-dispensing position and when the closure opening and dispensing passages are aligned, the container is in an open or dispensing position.

The method according to the present invention includes the formation of a plastic mass into a plastic container body in the conventional manner by extruding a parison and blowing the parison to conform with the inside surfaces of a mold. The container body is blown with a neck extension on the upper end. This neck extension has a cross-sectional periphery which is less than the upper end cross section of the container body. The neck extension is connected to the container body by a peripheral flange extending substantially normal to the axis of the container body. This container neck extension is severed from the container body to provide an opening in the upper end of the container body for filling and dispensing. The specific configuration of the neck extension determines the configuration of the opening in the container.

Referring specifically to the drawings and to the preferred embodiment shown in FIGURES 1 through 9, the container body has a hollow chamber enclosed by a side wall 28 and a bottom wall 21. The upper end of the side wall has a neck portion 22. The body 20, bottom wall 21 and neck portion 22 can be of any desired configuration but illustratively they are shown as a round container. A hollow neck extension 23 is provided integral with the upper end of the container neck portion, and FIGURES 1 and 2 illustrate its form as removed from the blow mold. The neck extension 23 is integrally joined with the neck portion 22 by a radially extending, peripheral flange 24. The flange 24 extends from the upper edge of neck portion 22 inwardly, substantially horizontally, and is joined with the lower end of the neck extension 23. A control opening 23a in the neck extension provides ingress for blowing the parison to its blow molded form.

I have shown the neck portion in its preferred embodiment having an outstanding rib 25 on its outer surface to which the closure is removably attached in the manner to be described hereinafter. The rib 25 can be formed of two coextensive, spaced ribs to provide stops for rotation of the closure thereon.

The flange 24 preferably extends upwardly from the horizontal about in the preferred embodiment (see FIGURE 4), although it is within the scope of this invention to vary this angle between 2 and 8 from the horizontal. The purpose of this angle is to insure sealing between the flange and closure as will be described hereinafter.

Referring to FIGURE 3, the neck extension 23 is severed from the container body after molding, and specifically from the neck portion 22 by a cutting knife or the like by severing the extension 23 at its point of juncture with the flanges 24. Preferably the cutting knife is at the same angle from the horizontal as the flange 24.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 1-3, I have shown a star shaped opening 26 which is formed upon removal of the neck extension 23. In the structure shown in FIGURES 4 through 9 this star shaped opening 26 has been cored out in a circular configuration to blunt the points at 27 to provide a minimum filling opening in,the center of the container body. Although this coring operation to blunt the points is not necessary, many consumers require a minimum filling diameter for the container.

FIGURES 6 through 9 illustrate a preferred form of closure 28 which has a flat top portion 29 having a plurality of equally spaced holes 30 therein and a depending integral skirt 31 knurled on its outer surface for gripping by theuser and having an internal groove 32 (preferably discontinuous) Which receives the rib 25 on the neck of the container. It should be noted that when the closure 28 is snapped onto the upper end of the neck 22 it is held in position by the rib or ribs 25 entering the groove 32 and the flange 24 is forced or bent downwardly until it is substantially horizontal and normal to the axis of the container (see FIGURE 6). Due to the memory of plastic materials, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, the flange 24 is tightly engaged against the under surface of the top wall portion 29 of the closure thereby providing an effective seal between the portion 29 and flange 24 to prevent the commodity in the container from sifting out when the closure is in the closed position.

Referring to FIGURES 8 and 9, the holes 30 are spaced in a circular radial configuration such that upon rotation of the closure 28 by a sliding movement of the groove 32 along the rib 25, the holes 30 are alternately positioned in the apexes 33 of the star opening 26 (see FIGURE 9) or, upon further rotation of the closure, the openings 30 are positioned over the flange 24, and since the flange is biased tightly against the under surface of the wall 29 of the closure, the openings 30 are respectively sealed and the commodity cannot be dispensed from the container by inversion of the container.

FIGURE 10 illustrates a modified form of the invention, patterned after the form previously described, in

which the opening and neck extension have a cross sectional keyhole shape 35, including a side wall portion 36 and an upper end 3601 forming an opening which receives the blowing mandrel in the blow molding machine to blow the parison. A peripheral flange 37 is integral with the upper end 22 of the containerneck and joins the neck extension 35 at its inner extremity. FIGURE 12 illustrates a cross section view similar to FIGURE 11, in which the neck extension 35 has been removed thereby providing an opening 38 having a keyhole shape. The neck extension is removed by a cutting knife or the like as previously described. As noted in FIGURE 13, it is important that the slot portion 39 of the keyhole opening be closer to the edge of the neck 22 than is the circular portion 38 of the keyhole. The circular portion 38 provides the minimum size filling opening as previously described. The flanges 37 are preferably formed at a slight angle to the horizontal in the same way as hereinbefore described with respect to the preferred embodiment.

FIGURES 13-15 illustrate a closure usable on the modified form of the invention similar in construction to the previously described closure with the exception of the specific construction of the openings in the closure. In this embodiment a large opening 40 is provided in the closure, and a plurality of small openings 41, closely grouped together, are provided adjacent thereto. The openings 40 and 41 are located on the closure such that .upon rotation of the closure by sliding the groove 32 on rib 25, the opening 40 can be positioned over the slot portion 39 of the opening in the container body to dispense a solid stream of the commodity from the container (see FIGURE 13), or upon further rotation of the closure the small holes 41 can be positioned over the slot portion 39 of the opening in the container body (see FIGURE 14) such that the commodity from the container can 'be sprinkled out in fine streams from the container. Upon further rotation of the closure the openings 40 and 41 can be positioned away from slot portion 39 of the opening and over flange 37 of the container thereby preventing dispensing from the container by inversion thereof.

The flange 37 is bent or forced downwardly by the closure, as shown in FIGURE 15, to insure an effective seal between the closure and flange to prevent sifting of the commodity from the container.

FIGURE 16 illustrates various other modified opening configurations for the container body and all of these openings are fabricated in the manner described above with respect to the star shaped and keyhole shaped openings. Specifically the figure shows a plan view of a triangular opening 45, an offset circular opening 46, a square opening 4-7 and a slot opening 48. It may be appreciated that thedctliosprels shown in the other figures or various other mo i e c osures can be used with the o ni t in FIGURE 16. p6 ngs shown In fabricating a container according to the present invention, it is merely necessary to use a blow mold having a configuration of the desired form and to blow a plastic parison against the internal surfaces of the' container. The neck extension 23 or 35 is then removed by severing it from the container 'body with a cutting knife or the like.

The closure members are preferably injection molded from plastic materials in a well-known manner.

While I have described the present preferred embodiment of my invention, it may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A container fabricated from resilient plastic material having a memory, and comprising a hollow body having an opening therein, portions of said body extending into and partly closing said opening and an edge of said portions defining the periphery of said opening, a closure member movably mounted immediately above and covering said opening, means on said body to rotatably unite the closure member to the body, said body portions being inclined radially inwardly and axially outwardly at said opening, said closure member having an inner surface which is substantially planar and adapted to contact said body portions, said closure member and means being so constructed and arranged that said body portions are resiliently flexed inwardly of the body upon mounting of the closure member on the body so that an effective seal is achieved between the body and closure and the memory of the plastic material maintains this seal, an opening in said closure member, and said closure member being movable to a first position to align the opening therein With the opening in said body, and movable to a second position where part of said body portion underlies the opening in the closure member.

2. A container according to claim 1 wherein said body is hollow to provide a chamber adapted to hold a commodity, an integral neck on said body, an upper end on the neck having a top opening defined by portions extending radially inwardly and upwardly of the neck, and said closure member being movably mounted on said neck to said first position to align the opening in the closure member with the top opening in the neck to permit dispensing said commodity from the container chamber, and to said second position such that the opening therein overlies the portion extending radially inward of the neck to prevent dispensing the commodity from the container chamber.

'3. A container according to claim 1 wherein at least three parts of the body portion extend into and partly close said opening, said parts being circumferentially spaced from each other; at least three holes in said closure member, said holes being spaced circumferentially from each other equal to the spacing of said body parts;

said closure member being movable to a first position to align the openings therein with the spaces between said parts, and movable to a second position Where said closure openings overlie said body parts.

4. In a flexible plastic container adapted to dispense a commodity: a chamber formed by a side wall and adapted to store said commodity, a neck-like structure integral with and extending outwardly from said side wall, said necklike structure having a dispensing passage extending from the chamber to an open top on the structure, a peripheral flange integral with the surface of the dispensing passage and located at said open top, said flange extending in-, Wardly and upwardly of and partly obstructing the passage, first portions of the flange extending radially inward of the surface of the passage a greater distance than second portions of the flange; a closure operatively positioned on said neck-like structure and having a top portion movably positioned over the open top on the neck-like structure, an undersurface on said top portion being engaged with the top surface of said peripheral flange; said flange extending upwardly a sufficient distance such that at lea-st the innermost extremities of the flange are flexed downwardly by and when the closure is operatively positioned on the neck-like structure to attain and maintain an effective seal between the underside of the top portion and the top flange surface, at least one opening through said top portion located such that upon movement of the top portion of the closure, the opening is moved from a position overlying said first portions of said flange to a position overlying said dispensing passage and vice versa, and the commodity may be dispensed through the passage and opening when the opening overlies the passage.

5. In a container according to claim 4 wherein the top portion of the closure has a plurality of openings positioned in a ring concentric with said neck-like structure; said closure being snapped and rotatable on the neck-like structure; the openings communicating with the dispensing passage upon rotation of the closure and overlying the first portions of the flange upon further rotation of the closure.

6. In a container according to claim 5 wherein the inner periphery of said flange is star-shaped with the apex portions of the points directed outward; openings in the closure being equally spaced apart with one opening located in each apex portion, so that upon rotation of the closure, the openings are simultaneously moved from a nondispensing position where the openings overlie the first portions of the flange to a dispensing position where the openings overlie theapex portions of the star-shaped periphery.

7. In a container according to claim 4 wherein the inner periphery of the flange is keyhole shaped with a substantially circular central portion and an adjoining slot extending outwardly therefrom, and said closure having a first area with a large opening therethrough and a second area with a plurality of small closely spaced openings therethrough, said closure being movable to alternately position the first and second areas over the peripheral flange, the first area over the slot with the second area over the peripheral flange, and the second area over the slot with the first area over the peripheral flange; the area over the slot being in corrununication With the dispensing passage to dispense the commodity from the container.

8. A container fabricated from resilient plastic material having a memory and comprising a hollow body having an opening therein, portions of said body extending into and partly closing said opening and an edge of said portions defining the periphery of said opening, a

closure member movably mounted immediately above and covering said opening, said closure member having a first opening and a second opening area containing a plurality of closely spaced small openings, said first opening and said second opening area being space-d from each other, means on said body to rotatably unite the closure member to the body, said body portions being inclined radially inwardly and axially outwardly said opening, said closure member having an inner surface which is substantially planar and adapted to contact said body portions, said closure member and means being so constructed and arranged that said body portions are resilient flexed inwardly of the body upon mounting of the closure member on the body so that an effective seal is achieved between the body and closure and the memory of the plastic material maintains this seal, said closure: member being movable to a first position when said first opening in the closure member is aligned with the opening in the body while said second opening area overlies said radially extending body portions, and the closure member is movable to a second position where the second opening area is aligned with the opening in the body while said first opening overlies said radially extending body portions.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,021,480 3/1912 Reutter 222-512 1,141,535 6/1915 Frevndt 222-480 1,284,635 11/1918 Ford 222-541 1,501,209 7/1924- Flagg 222480 1,685,147 9/1928 Case 222548 X 2,029,219 1/1936 Bourland 222480 (Other references on following page) STATES PATENTS Ekdahl 222575 X Ekstrom 222-498 Gollings 26494 X Livingstone 222-512 X Sherman 26494 Driscoll 222- 548 Po1itis 26494 Westgate 222480 8 4/1963 A'bt 26494 X 12/1963 Coale 26494 X 12/ 1963 Weschler et a1 26494 3/1964 Morrmann 26494 FOREIGN PATENTS 8/1888 Great Britain.

RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CONTAINER FABRICATED FROM RESILIENT PLASTIC MATERIAL HAVING A "MEMORY", AND COMPRISING A HOLLOW BODY HAVING AN OPENING THEREIN, PORTIONS OF SAID BODY EXTENDING INTO AND PARTLY CLOSING SAID OPENING AND AN EDGE OF SAID PORTIONS DEFINING THE PERIPHERY OF SAID OPENING, A CLOSURE MEMBER MOVABLY MOUNTED IMMEDIATELY ABOVE AND COVERING SAID OPENING, MEANS ON SAID BODY TO ROTATABLY UNITE THE CLOSURE MEMBER TO THE BODY, SAID BODY PORTIONS BEING INCLINED RADIALLY INWARDLY AND AXIALLY OUTWARDLY AT SAID OPENING, SAID CLOSURE MEMBER HAVING AN INNER SURFACE WHICH IS SUBSTANTIALLY PLANAR AND ADAPTED TO CONTACT SAID BODY PORTIONS, SAID CLOSURE MEMBER AND MEANS BEING SO CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED THAT SAID BODY PORTIONS ARE RESILIENTLY FLEXED INWARDLY OF THE BODY UPON MOUNTING OF THE CLOSURE MEMBER ON THE BODY SO THAT AN EFFECTIVE SEAL IS ACHIEVED BETWEEN THE BODY AND CLOSURE AND THE "MEMORY" OF THE PLASTIC MATERIAL MAINTAINS THIS SEAL, AN OPENING IN SAID CLOSURE MEMBER, AND SAID CLOSURE MEMBER BEING MOVABLE TO A FIRST POSITION TO ALIGN THE OPENING THEREIN WITH THE OPENING IN SAID BODY, AND MOVABLE TO A SECOND POSITION WHERE PART OF SAID BODY PORTION UNDERLIES THE OPENING IN THE CLOSURE MEMEBER. 